Latest news with #EdwardSimmer
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Nominee for South Carolina's top doctor toppled by lingering COVID anger
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina Senate committee rejected the Republican governor's nominee to be the state's top doctor after hours of hearings dominated by the state's response to the COVID pandemic. Just one of 13 Republicans on the Senate Medical Affairs Committee voted for Dr. Edward Simmer 's nomination to lead the new Department of Public Health — in contrast to the Republican-dominated Senate's overwhelming endorsement of Simmer in 2001 as head of the state's old public health and environmental agency. Thursday's vote reflected lingering anger over his handling of South Carolina's response to the pandemic. Simmer recommended people get the COVID vaccine, and he often wore masks well after the worst of the pandemic had passed, saying he wanted to protect his wife, who has a compromised immune system. Simmer defended his record, pointing out that in two years under his leadership of the old agency, South Carolina improved from 45th to 37th among U.S. states in overall public health measures and that COVID now takes up only a tiny percentage of his time. 'Sometimes a small amount of people can make a lot of noise. I think that's what we're seeing here," Simmer said. 'But I also hope you can look at my overall record, where we are going as a state." The Department of Public Health was created last year, and Gov. Henry McMaster nominated Simmer, a retired U.S. Navy psychiatrist, to run it. But the governor's support came with a backhanded knock on the federal government's COVID response 'He's not a Dr. Fauci,' McMaster said, referring to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert who advised Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden on the pandemic. Several Republicans aggressively questioned Simmer, reading aloud excerpts from his email in which he strongly encouraged people in 2021 to get the COVID vaccine and wear masks. Simmer said he was only following the best science at the time and said he never thought anyone should be required to be vaccinated. Sen. Matt Leber asked why Simmer didn't push back on schools buying Plexiglas barriers or grocery stores putting arrows on floors to encourage one-way traffic up aisles. 'Sometimes where there is chaos there is a vacuum of leadership,' Leber said. Simmer's critics both at the Statehouse and on social media have derisively called him a 'double masker' for wearing two face masks even after he explained that his wife has underlying medical conditions that make COVID especially dangerous for her. He was maskless for hearings both last month and on Thursday but said he 'will wear a mask again without hesitation if that is what it takes to protect the woman I love.' The lone Republican to vote for Simmer asked his colleagues to go back to 2020 and 2021 when many of them also organized COVID testing and made sure their constituents could find places with COVID vaccines. Sen. Tom Davis said punishing Simmer for what could only be known at the time was a terrible precedent. 'If he's guilty of some dereliction of duty in that regard, then I am derelict as well,' Davis said. The Senate's longest serving member, Republican Harvey Peeler, asked if Simmer would be willing to run the state Department of Mental Health if his nomination failed. 'Fauci blew up. You got hit by the shrapnel,' said Peeler, a senator since 1981. 'You talk to my constituents. They see you, they think Dr. Fauci.' The vote doesn't kill Simmer's nomination. But the full Senate, dominated by Republicans, would have to vote to pull it out of committee and send it to the floor. The only real mention of anything other than COVID during the hearing came from Democrats. One questioned him about how South Carolina was monitoring measles outbreaks in other states. A second asked about a mobile maternity care center set to hit the road in 2026. South Carolina is near the bottom in the nation in infant and maternity deaths and has a number of poorer counties where getting to the nearest obstetrician can involve at least a 50-mile (80-kilometer) drive.
The Independent
03-04-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Nominee for South Carolina's top doctor toppled by lingering COVID anger
A South Carolina Senate committee rejected the Republican governor's nominee to be the state's top doctor after hours of hearings dominated by the state's response to the COVID pandemic. Just one of 13 Republicans on the Senate Medical Affairs Committee voted for Dr. Edward Simmer 's nomination to lead the new Department of Public Health — in contrast to the Republican-dominated Senate's overwhelming endorsement of Simmer in 2001 as head of the state's old public health and environmental agency. Thursday's vote reflected lingering anger over his handling of South Carolina's response to the pandemic. Simmer recommended people get the COVID vaccine, and he often wore masks well after the worst of the pandemic had passed, saying he wanted to protect his wife, who has a compromised immune system. Simmer defended his record, pointing out that in two years under his leadership of the old agency, South Carolina improved from 45th to 37th among U.S. states in overall public health measures and that COVID now takes up only a tiny percentage of his time. 'Sometimes a small amount of people can make a lot of noise. I think that's what we're seeing here," Simmer said. 'But I also hope you can look at my overall record, where we are going as a state." The Department of Public Health was created last year, and Gov. Henry McMaster nominated Simmer, a retired U.S. Navy psychiatrist, to run it. But the governor's support came with a backhanded knock on the federal government's COVID response 'He's not a Dr. Fauci,' McMaster said, referring to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert who advised Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden on the pandemic. Several Republicans aggressively questioned Simmer, reading aloud excerpts from his email in which he strongly encouraged people in 2021 to get the COVID vaccine and wear masks. Simmer said he was only following the best science at the time and said he never thought anyone should be required to be vaccinated. Sen. Matt Leber asked why Simmer didn't push back on schools buying Plexiglas barriers or grocery stores putting arrows on floors to encourage one-way traffic up aisles. 'Sometimes where there is chaos there is a vacuum of leadership,' Leber said. Simmer's critics both at the Statehouse and on social media have derisively called him a 'double masker' for wearing two face masks even after he explained that his wife has underlying medical conditions that make COVID especially dangerous for her. He was maskless for hearings both last month and on Thursday but said he 'will wear a mask again without hesitation if that is what it takes to protect the woman I love.' The lone Republican to vote for Simmer asked his colleagues to go back to 2020 and 2021 when many of them also organized COVID testing and made sure their constituents could find places with COVID vaccines. Sen. Tom Davis said punishing Simmer for what could only be known at the time was a terrible precedent. 'If he's guilty of some dereliction of duty in that regard, then I am derelict as well,' Davis said. The Senate's longest serving member, Republican Harvey Peeler, asked if Simmer would be willing to run the state Department of Mental Health if his nomination failed. 'Fauci blew up. You got hit by the shrapnel,' said Peeler, a senator since 1981. 'You talk to my constituents. They see you, they think Dr. Fauci.' The vote doesn't kill Simmer's nomination. But the full Senate, dominated by Republicans, would have to vote to pull it out of committee and send it to the floor. The only real mention of anything other than COVID during the hearing came from Democrats. One questioned him about how South Carolina was monitoring measles outbreaks in other states. A second asked about a mobile maternity care center set to hit the road in 2026. South Carolina is near the bottom in the nation in infant and maternity deaths and has a number of poorer counties where getting to the nearest obstetrician can involve at least a 50-mile (80-kilometer) drive.
Associated Press
03-04-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
Nominee for South Carolina's top doctor toppled by lingering COVID anger
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina Senate committee rejected the Republican governor's nominee to be the state's top doctor after hours of hearings dominated by the state's response to the COVID pandemic. Just one of 13 Republicans on the Senate Medical Affairs Committee voted for Dr. Edward Simmer 's nomination to lead the new Department of Public Health — in contrast to the Republican-dominated Senate's overwhelming endorsement of Simmer in 2001 as head of the state's old public health and environmental agency. Thursday's vote reflected lingering anger over his handling of South Carolina's response to the pandemic. Simmer recommended people get the COVID vaccine, and he often wore masks well after the worst of the pandemic had passed, saying he wanted to protect his wife, who has a compromised immune system. Simmer defended his record, pointing out that in two years under his leadership of the old agency, South Carolina improved from 45th to 37th among U.S. states in overall public health measures and that COVID now takes up only a tiny percentage of his time. 'Sometimes a small amount of people can make a lot of noise. I think that's what we're seeing here,' Simmer said. 'But I also hope you can look at my overall record, where we are going as a state.' The Department of Public Health was created last year, and Gov. Henry McMaster nominated Simmer, a retired U.S. Navy psychiatrist, to run it. But the governor's support came with a backhanded knock on the federal government's COVID response 'He's not a Dr. Fauci,' McMaster said, referring to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert who advised Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden on the pandemic. Several Republicans aggressively questioned Simmer, reading aloud excerpts from his email in which he strongly encouraged people in 2021 to get the COVID vaccine and wear masks. Simmer said he was only following the best science at the time and said he never thought anyone should be required to be vaccinated. Sen. Matt Leber asked why Simmer didn't push back on schools buying Plexiglas barriers or grocery stores putting arrows on floors to encourage one-way traffic up aisles. 'Sometimes where there is chaos there is a vacuum of leadership,' Leber said. Simmer's critics both at the Statehouse and on social media have derisively called him a 'double masker' for wearing two face masks even after he explained that his wife has underlying medical conditions that make COVID especially dangerous for her. He was maskless for hearings both last month and on Thursday but said he 'will wear a mask again without hesitation if that is what it takes to protect the woman I love.' The lone Republican to vote for Simmer asked his colleagues to go back to 2020 and 2021 when many of them also organized COVID testing and made sure their constituents could find places with COVID vaccines. Sen. Tom Davis said punishing Simmer for what could only be known at the time was a terrible precedent. 'If he's guilty of some dereliction of duty in that regard, then I am derelict as well,' Davis said. The Senate's longest serving member, Republican Harvey Peeler, asked if Simmer would be willing to run the state Department of Mental Health if his nomination failed. 'Fauci blew up. You got hit by the shrapnel,' said Peeler, a senator since 1981. 'You talk to my constituents. They see you, they think Dr. Fauci.' The vote doesn't kill Simmer's nomination. But the full Senate, dominated by Republicans, would have to vote to pull it out of committee and send it to the floor. The only real mention of anything other than COVID during the hearing came from Democrats. One questioned him about how South Carolina was monitoring measles outbreaks in other states. A second asked about a mobile maternity care center set to hit the road in 2026. South Carolina is near the bottom in the nation in infant and maternity deaths and has a number of poorer counties where getting to the nearest obstetrician can involve at least a 50-mile (80-kilometer) drive.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Overdose deaths down in SC for first time in 11 years
SOUTH CAROLINA (WSAV) – For the first time in more than a decade, the South Carolina Department of Health said the latest numbers show a drop in overdose deaths, according to the 2023 Drug Overdose Deaths Report. There were 2,157 drug overdose deaths in South Carolina in 2023. That was a 6.1% decrease from the 2,296 drug overdose deaths in 2022. Before 2023, the last time South Carolina saw a decrease in drug overdose deaths was 2012. 'This data reflects our hard work and shows our state heading in the right direction. While we celebrate this achievement, we still have a long way to go in our efforts to reduce drug overdose deaths in our state,' said Dr. Edward Simmer, interim DPH director. In Beaufort County, 33 people overdosed in 2023. That is down nine from 2022. Jasper County's death toll rose by eight to 34. Hampton County's increased from three to five. Colleton County's deaths doubled from 12 to 24. Despite the numbers not being perfect, Dr. Simmer said the efforts in local counties have been key to helping stem the tide of overdose deaths in the State. 'Local groups often have the trust of the people in their area,' said Dr. Simmer. 'They know what the community is like. They know what the community needs. They know how to communicate with that community. So absolutely, we are very focused on working with local groups all across the state. But, you know, one county at a time, one even smaller area. And I think that's ultimately how we get to the root of this problem.' Nationally, including South Carolina, the synthetic opioid fentanyl continued to be largely responsible for a vast number of overdose deaths. Fentanyl was involved in 1,550 of the state's 2,157 overdose deaths in 2023. 'The cross-sector coordination between public safety and health services has been essential to reducing overdoses and saving lives,' said Sara Goldsby, South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS) director. 'Implementing evidence-based strategies that enhance prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts yields results. The supplemental federal funds that South Carolina has received in recent years have been instrumental in expanding access to treatment and recovery services, increasing prevention initiatives, and strengthening community-based support systems. These resources have allowed us to take a more comprehensive approach to addressing the overdose crisis and improving outcomes for individuals and families across the state.' DPH and DAODAS reminded all South Carolinians that resources are available for anyone experiencing substance use issues. DPH offers Opioid Overdose (OD) Safety Kits at health departments across the state. Each kit contains two doses of the opioid-antidote medication naloxone (Narcan), five fentanyl test strips, five xylazine test strips, educational materials on how to use everything included and guidance for how to identify an opioid overdose. The naloxone in the kits is a nasal spray that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, potentially saving a person's life. The fentanyl test strips are small strips of paper that can detect the presence of fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid, in different types of drugs. Xylazine test strips can detect the presence of xylazine, which is a harmful sedative that can create painful wounds on the body and can also cause death. Both fentanyl and Xylazine are often added to other drugs without the user's knowledge, making them even more dangerous. 'We now give that (Narcan) to every law enforcement agency that wants it,' says Dr Simmer. 'We give it to many schools all at no cost. And we also make it available to the public through our health department. Anybody can come into our health department, ask for a dose or two doses of naloxone, and we'll simply give it to no questions at no cost. Unfortunately, we still see a fair number of opioid overdoses, but we're seeing less of them being fatal, more people recovering. And I think that's a significant reason why you're seeing especially the drop in the fentanyl deaths in this report.' Call your local DPH health department to check the availability of Opioid OD Safety Kits before pick up. The safety kits are free, and you are not required to answer any questions. To find free naloxone doses and fentanyl test strips available at other Community Distributors, visit For services to treat addiction, visit or Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
‘Outrageously false': Nominated SC health director defends COVID response over opponents' claims
Edward Simmer, the governor's choice to lead the state health agency, told the Senate Medical Affairs Committee that claims about his response to the COVID-19 pandemic were false on Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Screenshot of SCETV legislative livestream) COLUMBIA — The governor's pick to lead South Carolina's public health agency told senators Thursday that people have threatened him while making 'outrageously false allegations' about his response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Gov. Henry McMaster nominated Dr. Edward Simmer, the previous head of the Department of Health and Environmental Control, to run the state's newly created Department of Public Health. Simmer ran DHEC for three years before legislators split the agency into separate departments. Since being nominated as head of the 2,000-person health agency, which he leads on an interim basis, Simmer has been called an 'enemy of medical freedom,' a 'health czar,' 'not a real doctor' and 'evil,' he told the 17-person committee Thursday during a lengthy opening statement. The committee did not take a vote on whether to advance his confirmation. Complaints about Simmer have centered around the state's response to COVID-19. Opponents have claimed Simmer pushed shutdowns, even though he still lived in Virginia until December 2020, when he retired after three decades in the Navy. He didn't take the helm of DHEC until February 2021, nearly a year into the pandemic. Senators voted 40-1 to confirm him as the agency was rolling out vaccines. 'Dr. Edward Simmer's track record during the pandemic demonstrated a clear disregard for South Carolinians' values and freedoms, prioritizing mandates and divisive policies over individual rights,' Sen. Tom Fernandez, a Summerville Republican who sits on the committee, wrote on Facebook in a post Simmer specifically addressed Thursday. That was 'completely false,' Simmer said. Even if he had been in the state when the pandemic began in 2020, he wouldn't have recommended closing schools or businesses, he said. 'Let me be perfectly clear, so that everyone on this committee and every citizen of this state can hear it directly from me,' Simmer said. 'I have never prioritized any mandates, and I will continue to preserve and defend South Carolinians' freedoms and individual rights.' Simmer has received threatening letters, in which people have said they want to hurt him because he promoted vaccines they see as 'putting poison in people's arms,' he said. Someone crumpled up his license plate and placed 'a very crude attempt to make something look like a bomb,' composed of wires and a battery pack, under his car, in an apparent attempt to intimidate him, he said. 'No threats, no lies on social media, no smear campaign from cowards, many of whom hide behind anonymous letters and false social media identities, will ever deter me from continuing to serve the people of South Carolina to the very best of my ability,' Simmer told the committee. Whether to wear a mask or get vaccinated is a personal choice people should make alongside their doctor, Simmer said. Demonstrating that personal choice, he wore a mask long after most others in the state had stopped because doctors for his wife, Peggy, recommended it, he said. Peggy Simmer has medical conditions that put her at very high risk for getting COVID-19. The disease would likely be life-threatening for her if she contracted it, Edward Simmer said. People 'expressed outrage and have even mocked me for wearing a mask,' he told the committee. 'But believe me, I will wear a mask again without hesitation if that is what it takes to protect Peggy,' Simmer said. Looking back, Simmer said he did the best with the information he had. If he could do it differently, he would have recommended lighter restrictions. For instance, instead of recommending that schools require students and staff to wear masks indoors, he would suggest schools leave the decision up to students, he said. He lacked the authority to require anything himself. He issued guidance to the state Department of Education that schools require masks, but when McMaster ordered an immediate end in May 2021 to those requirements, he followed the governor's directive to create a parental opt-out form. His repeated, public recommendation three months later came as he asked the Legislature to repeal its ban on mask mandates. He also would have done more to explain why officials were making the decisions they did and what information drove them, he said. 'Indeed, my detractors often overlook that during the COVID-19 response, public health officials simply did not have all the information that we do today,' Simmer said. 'No one did.' Some of the vitriol directed toward Simmer could have been misplaced anger for Anthony Fauci's response to the pandemic, suggested Sen. Josh Kimbrell. As chief medical advisor to the president, Fauci recommended stay-at-home orders, mask mandates and social distancing in order to combat the spread of the virus. 'I think that was a heavy-handed response,' said Kimbrell, R-Boiling Springs. 'Do you believe that your confirmation, your renomination, is colored at least in part by how (Fauci) responded to the national emergency?' 'Unfortunately, it probably is,' Simmer replied, adding that he also disagreed with some of Fauci's decisions. Sen. Tom Corbin questioned Simmer's decision to encourage people to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Repeating debunked claims that the vaccine can alter a person's DNA, Corbin asked if Simmer felt it was responsible for the state health department to push it. 'It is my contention that it is wrong for this state to promote the vaccine as safe and effective when in my opinion it is not,' the Travelers Rest Republican said. Studies have shown this is not true, Simmer said. The vaccine has some rare side effects, so people should consult with a doctor before getting it, but in the vast majority of cases, studies show the vaccine is safe and effective, he said. 'I want to make DPH's public health role crystal clear,' Simmer said. 'We inform. You decide.' McMaster, who is a Republican, has repeatedly defended Simmer as his pick for the job. Before taking over DHEC, Simmer oversaw Tricare Health Plan, the military's massive health system for care outside military hospitals. Before that, he spent 12 years working in various positions as a naval doctor, McMaster said. DHEC had been without a permanent director for eight months when Simmer took over. He was also the first doctor in decades to lead the public health agency. 'He's enormously qualified. He's enormously talented,' McMaster said. 'I don't know why it is that people are criticizing him, because I don't think anybody can put a finger on something he's done that's either unethical or wrong.' The department's work goes far beyond the COVID-19 recommendations that have become a political flashpoint, Simmer said. As DHEC director, Simmer shepherded the agency through the split and a move to a new campus. The agency is building a 'state-of-the-art' laboratory, where researchers will test diseases, including screening newborns for potentially life-threatening but easily treatable genetic diseases, Simmer said. A look at the former utility campus that will be home to SC health agencies Last year, South Carolina ranked 37th in the country for health outcomes, a metric that looks at premature deaths, prevalence of diseases and access to medical care. That's not where the state should be, but it's a big improvement over the many decades in which the Palmetto State consistently ranked in the bottom 10 states, Simmer said. Leading the state Department of Public Health is Simmer's 'dream job,' he told reporters after the meeting. With the threats he has received, there have been days when he has asked himself whether he really wants to continue doing the work, but in every case, he decides that he does, he said. 'I truly believe in our mission,' Simmer said. 'I believe in the great work that we do. I have a wonderful team to work with, and every day I go to work, I can positively impact the lives of 5 million people.'
